Monday, May 3, 2010

Mediterranean Cruise - Amalfi Coast

Rob and Alex have been racing along the Amalfi Coast and in Salerno for a couple years now, enjoying the rugged scenery and high cliffs. Those video games are one way to learn about geography!

We plan on touring both land and sea, taking a motor launch and checking out the towering cliffs along the shore. The destination would be Amalfi's main square and its century cathedral. The site has ancient origins, with the cathedral being totally rebuilt in the 13th century and embellished throughout the centuries. The doors were cast in Constantinople in 1066, and you can see Gothic arches and Moorish influences in the architecture as well:

Complicated, grand, delicate, and dominating, the 9th-century Amalfi cathedral has been remodeled over the years with Romanesque, Byzantine, Gothic, and Baroque elements, but retains a predominantly Arab-Norman style. Cross and crescent seem to be wed here: the campanile looks like a minaret wearing a Scheherazadian turban, the facade conjures up a striped burnoose, and its Paradise Cloister is an Arab-Sicilian spectacular.

http://www.amalficoastitaly.eu/duomo_san_andrea.htm

Amalfi is situated at the mouth of a deep gorge along the coast, and it's not hard to imagine how it built a reputation as a major shipping port in the Middle Ages. But in 1343 a disastrous earthquake caused a large part of the city to slide right into the sea. Prior to the earthquake, about 70,000 people lived here. Nowadays, the population is 6,000 - not counting the tourists traipsing through.

About Me

This anthology is good company! Bought it in a small independent bookstore in Hawaii (the most Western independent bookstore in the USA ). Full of wisdom and fantastic writing, and perfect to read next to the majestic crashing surf.

A mass murderer ends up in a coma and a doctor feeds him experimental drugs, with the result that the man develops supernatural powers of mind control. From his bed he enters heads and plants such disparaging thoughts people kill themsel...

I read this to entertain myself before we headed off on our vacation, and ended up gaining a great appreciation for how diverse the islands are, with so many different cultures colliding in recent history. The Polynesians came to inhabit...

Monarchs are endangered by climate change, and in this book they are on the verge of extinction. Kingsolver's writing was beautiful and insightful. She painted with words so well.
Our book club discussion that night jumped back and fort...